National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Magnetic Field of a Solenoid
You can create a stronger, more concentrated magnetic field by taking wire and forming it into a coil called a solenoid. (Java tutorial)
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Rheostat
After discovering the nature of electrical resistance, scientists devised instruments like this one to measure and control it. (Java tutorial)
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Pixii Machine
This "magneto-electric machine" was the first to turn motion into electricity. (Java tutorial)
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Parallel Wires
A pair of parallel wires serves to illustrate a principle that French Scientist Andre-Marie Ampere was the first to comprehend, back in 1820. (Java tutorial)
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Oscillator
Oscillators are a type of circuit found in many types of electronic equipment, including clocks, radios and computers. (Java tutorial)
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Oersted's Compass
Recreate the discovery by Hans Christian Oersted about the relationship between electricity and magnetism in this very simple experiment.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Torsion Balance
Experiment with the torsion balance and see what happens first by giving the rod a charge, and then by moving the charged rod closer to the outer metal sphere of the instrument. Observe what happens to the needle as the charge increases.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Torsion Balance 1785
Read about Charles Augustin de Coulomb, who didn't invent the torsion balance, but was the first to discover it could be used to measure electrical charge- the first device capable of such a feat.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Low Temperature Physics
Why do physicists want to study things at temperatures so cold atomic motion almost comes to a halt? And how do they create such frigid environments, anyway? Read on for the what, how and why of low temperature physics.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Giant Magnetoresistance: The Really Big Idea Behind a Very Tiny Tool
This itsy-bitsy phenomenon makes your iPod and hard drive tick.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Oil Drop
It may look like a simple black blob, but an oil drop is in fact a phenomenally complex mix of immense molecules called hydrocarbons. Using a type of mass spectrometry called FT-ICR, scientists can analyze oil and other macromolecules...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Cryogenics for English Majors
Fear not, right-brained friends: Science and art intersect in plenty of places, and this is one of them. Samuel Taylor Coleridge lends a hand as we explore cryogenics - how to get things fantastically frigid - and the fascinating element...
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Wheatstone Bridge
This circuit is most commonly used to determine the value of an unknown resistance to an electrical current.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Voltaic Pile
Italian scientist Alessandro Volta was the first to recognize key principles of electrochemistry, and applied those principles to the creation of the first battery, a simple tool which came to be known as the voltaic pile.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Van De Graaff Generator
Invented around 1930, the Van de Graaff generator is a popular tool for teaching the principles of electrostatics. Others just call it "that thing that makes your hair stand on end." See how it works here.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Transmission Lines
Electricity goes through some ups and downs on its way from the power plant to your house. See how it works in this interactive activity.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Transformers
Use this interactive, simple transformer to make a complete circuit via induction using two separate coils with iron cores inside.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Apple Ii Plus 1979
Long before the iPhone, the iPod or even the Mac, there was the Apple.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Crookes Tube 1870
English chemist Sir William Crookes (1832 - 1919) invented the Crookes tube to study gases, which fascinated him. His work also paved the way for the revolutionary discovery of the electron and the invention of X-ray machines.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Early Chinese Compass 400 Bc
The first compass was used not to point people in the right direction literally, but figuratively.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Edison Battery 1903
Although it never quite measured up to expectations, the Edison battery paved the way for the modern alkaline battery.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Barkhausen Effect
The Barkhausen effect makes the concept of magnetic domains audible (if not exactly music to the ear).
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Fluorescent Lamp 1934
Compared to incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps last longer, require less energy and produce less heat, advantages resulting from the different way in which they generate light.
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory
Magnet Academy: Electrostatic Generator 1706
Otto von Guericke's electrostatic machine evolved into increasingly improved instruments in the hands of later scientists. In the early 1700s, an Englishman named Francis Hauksbee designed his own electrostatic generator, a feat stemming...